Gardening · Herbalism · Homesteading · Preserving

Air Drying Herbs and Flowers

Drying herbs and flowers is easy to do, and takes little work to put away a years worth. And you don't need a dehydrator either. My method is very simple: Take a clean brown grocery bag outside and pick, tossing into the bag as you do. Then fold over the top to keep light and… Continue reading Air Drying Herbs and Flowers

Gardening · Homesteading · Prepping

Growing To Eat Versus Growing For Hobby

One of the things I do yearly is test my boundaries. The boundaries of growing plants. To see what can I push to the edge, and still work. But to explain it, not that many years ago we were urban homesteaders, living off the luxury of having our mini-farmstead right out the back door, with… Continue reading Growing To Eat Versus Growing For Hobby

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

5 Gallon Bucket Growing

With our cold and wet spring (and seriously...we had a wind storm last night into this morning that was winter like) I have been looking for options for peppers and some tomatoes to be able to grow protected, and to hopefully increase the crop production numbers. Bell peppers do grow here on Whidbey Island, Wa,… Continue reading 5 Gallon Bucket Growing

Gardening · Homesteading

Whidbey Island Gardening: The Cool Spring

It's been a cool spring this year. And a wet one, depending on which end of Whidbey Island you live on. We live outside of Freeland, in the Olympic Rainshadow, so we get far less than say Oak Harbor in the far north, or Langley, farther south (it gets quite a bit more as it… Continue reading Whidbey Island Gardening: The Cool Spring

Gardening · Homesteading · Prepping

The Emergency Garden

It's the end of March, and the news is filled with doom and gloom every day. Maybe you have never grown food before, and suddenly feel the need to do it. Or you have, but not recently. Gardening can help control anxiety from news of inflation and food shortages by giving you something beneficial to… Continue reading The Emergency Garden